A fitted sheet is often used as a bottom sheet in a bedding set. A fitted sheet generally includes a body having side and end portions which fit around the side and end portions of a mattress so the sheet encases the mattress. The body extends over the top of the mattress and ends of the sheet extend for a short distance along the bottom of the mattress inwardly of the sides and ends of that mattress.
While extremely popular, many fitted sheets have several drawbacks that create problems and inhibit the use of such sheets in some situations, particularly in an institutional situation.
One such problem concerns the neatness of the fit. If the sheet does not snugly engage the mattress, it may become slightly dislodged and loose thereby presenting a sloppy appearance and degrading the overall neatness with which the top sheet, blankets, or other such bedding fit onto the mattress. This is especially true in the case of a convertible bed in which the mattress will be folded and unfolded for storage and use, or in a hospital bed in which a patient may be moving about. Even if a fitted sheet has elastic at the corners thereof, such elastic often becomes loose over time thereby degrading the advantage of such sheet.
Furthermore, most of the presently-available fitted sheets cannot accommodate mattresses having a thickness or shape different from a thickness or shape for which the sheet is designed. Thus, for example, fitted sheets are generally designed to accommodate standard mattresses, however, if a mattress has a non-standard thickness, the sheet may not even fit over that non-standard mattress, or may be so loosely attached to that mattress that it loses nearly all of the advantages generally associated with fitted sheets.
Still further, some fitted sheets shrink during laundering. If the sheet is designed to fit at manufacturing, such shrinking will vitiate the fit; whereas, if the sheet is designed to account for such shrinking, the sheet will probably only fit properly when the designed amount of shrinking has occurred, and not before or after.
Furthermore, the application of a fitted sheet to a mattress and its removal therefrom are arduous tasks for an average housewife, inasmuch as the mattress must be raised at all four corners and warped into or out of the corner pockets of the sheet, as the case may be, depending on whether the bed is being made or unmade. This is an especially onerous task in an institutional setting, such as in a hospital, or in a hotel or motel situation where a great number of beds must be changed rapidly.
Also, ironing and storing such sheets are more difficult than in the case of an ordinary sheet due to the formed corners of such fitted sheets. Again, this makes storing fitted sheets in a house difficult, and extremely problematical in an institutional setting involving numerous sheets.
A standard, non-fitted sheet can accommodate various mattress dimensions as well as shrinkage and can be easily laundered, stored and ironed; however, such sheets have several disadvantages which the fitted sheet is intended to overcome.
Therefore, there is a need for a fitted sheet that combines the advantages of a non-fitted sheet with those of a fitted sheet without the usual disadvantages of a fitted sheet, and can securely accommodate a mattress, especially a mattress having a non-standard thickness or shape, in a secure manner, regardless of the amount of shrinkage associated with the sheet, yet can be easily laundered, stored and applied to the mattress.